This invention relates to graphical function displays for computer program applications having a graphical user interface.
As software programs become more complex, one of the biggest issues faced by program designers is making a software program's controls easily accessible to a user within a user interface. Graphical function displays of program functions are commonly referred to as toolbars having icons representing program functions, also referred to as toolbar buttons. A number of other names are used to reference graphical function displays, including menu and tool palette. The generic term toolbar shall be used herein to refer to all types of graphical function displays, including menus and tool palettes. The term tool shall be used herein to refer to all types of program functions represented by graphical function displays. A tool represented by an icon can be accessed by a user, for example, by a mouse click on the icon, by highlighting the icon or by pressing a key or keys on a keyboard. As the number of controls accessible to a user grows, it can become impractical to display all such controls in a toolbar. To simplify the user interface and to minimize the screen real estate for the user interface elements, some applications group several tools together under a single icon. The single icon can be a split icon, whereby a user can either activate the icon to select the tool represented by the icon or the user can activate an arrow displayed on the split icon, to display a secondary list. Alternatively, the single icon may not be a split icon, but rather an icon that can be activated in a first manner to select the tool represented by the icon or activated in a second manner to display a secondary list. The secondary list, sometimes referred to as a pull-down or fly-out, includes a graphical representation of the one or more additional tools in the group of tools. The user can select any tool in the group of tools from the secondary list.
Although typically a secondary list disappears from the screen once a user selects to activate a tool or program function not contained in the secondary list, some applications permit a user to tack open a secondary list so that the tools represented on the list remain accessible after one or more of them have been selected. The secondary list continues to take up valuable screen real estate, even when not being used by a user.
Some applications permit the user to drag or tear the secondary list away from the toolbar to create a separate floating tool palette representing the tools in the group of tools contained in the list. Floating tool palettes use valuable screen space and can create a cluttered user interface that may also be confusing to a user, particularly if a tool is represented by both an icon on the toolbar and another icon on a separate floating tool palette.